{"id":21028,"date":"2020-08-06T13:04:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T20:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=21028"},"modified":"2020-08-06T13:04:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T20:04:51","slug":"made-in-italy-presents-idyllic-views-but-little-else-that-inspires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=21028","title":{"rendered":"MADE IN ITALY Presents Idyllic Views, But Little Else That Inspires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/24_0005_C-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7265\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This title from IFC Films will be available for streaming rentals on most platforms Friday, August 7<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, movies can whisk viewers far away to gorgeous and\ninviting places halfway around the world. The new comedy\/drama Made in Italy\ndoes just that, dropping its leads in Tuscany to soak up incredibly picturesque\nlocale. Frankly, this movie could inspire anyone to leave everything behind and\nmove out there permanently. It\u2019s unfortunate that the story itself isn\u2019t nearly\nas engaging or remarkable as the idyllic views on display. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/made-in-italy-cast-dancing-FIXED-1024x634.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21030\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jack (Michael Richardson) is a London art dealer in the middle of a separation from his icy wife, Kate (Lindsay Duncan). When she announces she\u2019s selling their gallery, Jack is destroyed and begs for an opportunity to purchase the building from her. Remembering that he and his estranged artist father Robert (Liam Neeson) have a Tuscan home that they haven\u2019t visited in 20 years since his mother passed away, he calls his dad up. Jack plots to get them to the property in order to fix it and make a quick sale so that he can use his half of the earnings to take control of the gallery. However, they find the neglected home in disrepair and in need a great deal of work. The longer they stay on site, the more Robert wants to stay. In the process, Jack befriends village restauranteur Natalia (Valeria Bliello).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a very low-key, sweet and overly cutesy movie. Early\nsections deal with father and son being told by their real estate agent that the\nTuscan home is unsellable (it is messy, but the sentiment is completely\nridiculous). As they\u2019re fixing it up, they don\u2019t face great difficulties, other\nthan an angry weasel that is squatting on the property. And of course, the very\nfirst local Jack encounters is a lovely and very available restaurant-owner who\nmakes incredible dishes. It\u2019s such a wonderful place that moments after their arrival,\nmost viewers will wonder why the pair would even consider returning home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/made-in-italy-son-lady-sitting-FIXED-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21031\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Believe it or not, we the audience <em>are<\/em> supposed to believe that Jack has a tough decision on his hands about what to do with his life if he doesn\u2019t manage to make the sale in 30 days and take control of the London gallery. Yet every time an outsider shows up at the home to make an offer on it, the purchasers are presented as either bizarre or completely obnoxious people. Most of the comedic elements on display in the film are too obvious or on-the-nose in their execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The only real conflict is some personal drama between Jack\nand Robert. Neeson does manage to add some gravitas out of losing his wife and\nbeing unable to create new art pieces since her death. And what most of the\njokes fall flat, he does eke out a couple of chuckles when complaining about\nthe loss of true romance and chance in the world (criticizing his son\u2019s\ngeneration for relying on dating apps to find a mate). When he and co-star Richardson\ndo finally address their pain at the close of the picture, it does add a pinch drama\nto the proceedings. &nbsp;However, there\u2019s\nonly so much the two stars can do when the plotting is so routine and predictable\nthat it doesn\u2019t allow for any surprises comedically or deeper analysis\ndramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/made-in-italy-group-wine-smiling-FIXED-1024x610.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21032\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, viewers will be introduced to these characters and\ntheir issues, have an immediate conclusion of what will follow and exactly how\nthese people will find happiness. They will then be forced to wait 80 minutes while\nthe leads figuring out for themselves what was obvious from the beginning. I\nsuppose one could argue that at least all this silliness is playing out in a\ngorgeously scenic area. Still, while one might enjoy the sights and beauty of <em>Made\nin Italy<\/em>, the story doesn\u2019t make any imprint or offer much in the way of\ninspiration. &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This title from IFC Films will be available for streaming rentals on most platforms Friday, August 7th. Sometimes, movies can whisk viewers far away to gorgeous and inviting places halfway around the world. The new comedy\/drama Made in Italy does just that, dropping its leads in Tuscany to soak up incredibly picturesque locale. Frankly, this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,4660,6251,10042,12329,12883,12884,12885,12886,13829,23369,23650],"class_list":["post-21028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-comedy","tag-drama","tag-italy","tag-liam-neeson","tag-made-in-italy","tag-made-in-italy-film-review","tag-made-in-italy-movie-review","tag-made-in-italy-review","tag-michael-richardson","tag-tuscany","tag-valeria-bliello"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}